Wheel found in river may be from locomotive that fell off ferry

Anderson couple reel in historical catch

Rod Miranda, Millville Historical Society president (left) and railroad historian Rick Marty pose with a wheel found in the Sacramento River late last year. Members of the historical society think it may be a wheel from a locomotive that fell into the river and sank in the water in 1897.

Contributed photo

During the monthly meeting of the Millville Historical Society earlier this month, a knock was heard on the door.

In walked Gary Popejoy, former Shasta County radio disc jockey, carrying a heavy iron wheel he was delivering to the society on behalf of his friend Wes Lewis of Anderson.

Lewis and his wife, Rachelle, found the wheel late last year on the edge of the Sacramento River near the mouth of Cow Creek while salmon fishing. Rachelle saw the wheel in about 3 to 4 feet of water. Working together, Rachelle and Wes " pulled the wheel out of the water and put it into our boat."

They "thought it was some kind of a cart wheel."

They contacted their friend and neighbor Eleanor Hagstrom, a member of the Millville Historical Society, to see whether the society would like to have the wheel.

Hagstrom thought it might be a wheel from a locomotive that fell off a ferry and into the Sacramento River in 1897.

Millville Historical Society Rod Miranda was alerted. "When I first saw it, I thought it was an ordinary wheel," he said. "But when he (Popejoy) turned it sideways and I saw the flat portion of the wheel, my heart started to flutter because I figured it had to be a train wheel."

The wheel may be one of the smaller wheels from the J.G. Kellogg locomotive supposedly buried in the sands of the Sacramento River near the Deschutes Road bridge.

The J.G. Kellogg locomotive fell into the Sacramento River and, according to some local historians, was never pulled out. This was at the time when a railroad track extended from the Terry Lumber Mill in Bella Vista to the mainline in Anderson on what is now Deschutes Road. Its lumber products were shipped on this railroad to the Anderson tracks where the lumber was transferred onto the mainline railroad cars and transported to far-flung customers.

Before the building of a railroad bridge across the Sacramento River, the railroad cars had to be ferried across the river. It isn't known why the locomotive fell into the river; however, one account says the brakeman hadn't set the brake.

When the lumber company went out of business, the railroad was abandoned. In 1945 Shasta County acquired the railroad grade, removed the tracks and turned it into Deschutes Road.

Railroad historian Rick Marty has examined the wheel. He took photos and measurements and is researching locomotive data to see whether it is from the J.G. Kellogg and the wheel. The wheel measures 15 inches wide and 3 inches thick and is rusted and caked with mud.

Lewis donated the wheel to the Millville Historical Society. If you would like to see it, call president Rod Miranda at 547-5619. Miranda "wants to share the museum's new piece of Shasta County history with everyone."